We Ride to Kutera and then to Eilat!!

This will be a double post, since I was too beat to write after the ride into Ketura.

Before leaving Mitzpe Ramon we started with shacharit (morning prayers) at the makhtesh.  This is aa regular part of the ride experience, and it is very special.  As the sun rises we wrap ourselves in our tallitot, some of us put on teffilin, we sing, play the drums and watch the sun rise over the makhtesh as we recite the morning prayers.  So many of them evoke a connection with the waking of the day which we experience viscerally as the makhtesh comes to life.

We also had a special visitor:

Then we ride down, down, down into the makhtesh.  It is a thrilling descent that takes you back thousands of years to the time of the Romans and the Nabatian spice route (which went through the makhtesh).  

Me at the makhtesh before we ride down:

 If I can figure out how, I will post a video from our tour guide par excellance, Bill Slott explaining how the makhtesh was formed.  It is actually from a previous year.  This year Hadar explained in using chocolate cream puffs... but I don't have a video of that.

Of course, what goes down must go up, and we do have to climb out... The rest of the day is one spectacular mile after another.  Not too hilly and fast.  Until the final descent into the Arava Valley and the home of Kibbutz Ketura and the Arava Institute.   It is several steep miles, and yet another thrilling part of the ride.  Here is a link to the route.  From Mitzpe Ramon to Ketura

Ketura is one of the few kibbutzim that remains fully communal.  Founded in the early 70's, most of the original members were American immigrants. It has prospered and is now a comfortable place to live.  But walking around the campus, we are struck by how rugged those early years must have been.  We toured the Arava Institute and saw some of the exciting work they are doing, especially in solar engery.  They have developed a type of self cleaning solar panel that seems to be able to remove the desert dust from the panels (which cuts their efficiency) without using water (which is scarce and expensive)


I have written before of the special mission of the Arava Institute, which brings Arabs and Israelis together to work on the vital environmental issues that affect them all, regardless of borders, and through that work to bring us closer to peace.  I continue to be awed by the commitment and courage of the Arab students who take on this challenge, and who live in this land of conflict.  One of my riding colleagues told of a conversation he had with one of the Arab alumni on crew.  As a jet fighter flew over he asked what the crew member felt hearing jets that might soon be screaming over Gaza or the West Bank.  He shrugged, but as we rode past Nafha, the maximum security prison outside of Mitzpe Ramon that hold many Palestinian prisoners, he said, "This is what hurts.  I have family in there."  No answers.  Just questions.  And a reminder of how vital is this cause for which we ride.

Day five of the ride is from Ketura to Eilat.  It begins with a long slow climb back up the winding road we came down yesterday.  A much different experience.  The five minute thrill ride down is now a grinding hour long climb out (for those who wish an easier start to the day, there is the bus!).  And then one last dart through the desert.  It is a ride full of anticipation and drama.  Much has changed along the Egyptian border since I was last here.  As the result of a serious terrorist attack along this border last year, what used to be a relatively open border, with grand vistas into the Sinai, is now cut off by a high mesh and barbeed wire fence that runs the length of this desert divide.  It is a sad commentary on the ever present risks that confront this land.  It is also a potential ecological disaster, as the fence literally cuts off the migration of wildlife that of course knows no borders.  If some compromise is ot found, the potential impact on biodiversity is enormous.

The anticipation builds until we reach the point on the road that begins our descent into Eilat.  This is another spectacular descent (I see to use the word "spectacular" a lot in this blog...).  Riders are spread out for safety, so the ride is a solitary one.  One switch-back after another, and the Red Sea comes into view, with the mountains of Jordan in the city of Aqaba in the background.  And soon Eilat rises up as we near the end of the ride.  Everyone gets down safely, which is the main goal.  (Readers of my previous blog will remember that this was the scene of a tragic accident in 2010 when I first did this ride.  One of the first riders down the hill - an experienced rider - somehow lost control at high speed and fell.  He survived the crash, but was terribly injured.  There is not a hill that I go down that don't think of him.  Though I have never been a reckless rider, I am ever more cautious with speed on these descents.)  See the route here: Ketura to Eilat

Our ride into Eilat proper under police escort is triumphant.  With cheers and drums we arrive at the edge of the sea.  We have ridden from the northern most parts of Israel to the southern most.  We have seen vistas that defy descriptions.  We have tested ourselves and proven our mettle.  Most important, we have strenghtened our bonds to the land, gained a better understanding of the critical environmental issues it confronts and which is must meet, and have been inspired by a group of pioneers who show us that peace in this troubled land can be acheived if only our leaders can display the courage to do what they do every day of their lives. 

More later,

L'hitra-ot,

Lester